the news in arabic

In the wake of all this Mickey-Hamas-Promoting-Terrorism stuff, I think now is the time to clear up some misunderstandings about Islam, children’s shows, and politics. The above graphic is from a children’s show called “al-Manar al-Saghrir” (the little Manar — or lighthouse) broadcast on Hezbullah’s satellite station al-Manar. Besides the scary-looking sun, there’s nothing “terroristic” about this show.

I also think the Hamas children’s show was taken out of context and judged unfairly. Any children’s show that is produced from the Gaza Strip must be understood in the context of daily violence, family deaths, widespread unsanitary conditions, and military occupation. The whole “leave the children out of it” argument is essentially null. Political ideologies shouldn’t be forced on to children, but it is understandable that explanations for daily living conditions are included in broadcasts.

Either way, the Hamas program is a very small slice of children’s programing in the Arab world. Below are some clips which show just how dangerous those Arabs really are!

Here is a show about a “strange car” named “Boumbo” which is pretty much the cutest thing I’ve ever seen:

Here are the opening credits for the show “Iftah ya Sim Sim” or Open Sesame:

Muqtada al-Sadr released a nine-point statement calling for an end to the “manifestations of arms.” Here is a copy of the statement in Arabic from Inbaa news service and here are a few of the points below:

1. Put an end to all manifestations of arms in Basra and all other districts.
2. Stop all house-raids (al-mudahunaat) and all random, illegal arrests.
3. Call on the government to apply a general amnesty (al-’afo) law and a release of all prisoners who have not been proved guilty, especially those from the Sadr Wing (al-tiyar al-sadri).

Iraqi soldiers hand over their weapons to a follower of Muqtada al-Sadr in Sadr City in Baghdad. (Al-Hayat via Informed Comment.)

The recent fighting in Iraq between Iraqi security forces and Jaysh al-Mehdi has laid bare many alliances and foe-ships. I can’t offer any analysis on this web of complex relationships and motives, but here are some reports from Arabic sources on what’s happening on the ground.

Al-Hayat

Al-Hayat reports that according to official accounts, 275 have been killed and over 500 injured in the past week of violence. PM Nuri al-Maliki has renewed his commitment to fight Jaysh al-Mehdi until the end, but supporters of Sadr say that they refuse “to hand over any weapons unless the government banishes the Occupation.” Similar sentiments have been echoed by Shaykh Zahir al-Khafaji, the military leader of the Jaysh al-Mehdi in Najaf: “Handing over weapons is impossible until the occupation has left the country.”

From these reports, the demands of Muqtada al-Sadr’s followers are clear: The US and British occupation must end.

Al-Hayat also notes that the US Military has deepened their involvement in the conflict in by launching several air strikes in Basra and Sadr City. These strikes have led to the deaths and injuries of dozens of people. (Al-Hayat)

Image of a demonstration of Muqtada al-Sadr’s followers form al-Jazeera. 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Emir of Qatar.

No Shows: King of Jordan Abdallah II, President of Yemen Ali abd al-Salah, King of Saudi Arabia Abdallah bin abd al-Aziz, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Sultan of Oman, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the King of Morocco, and Lebanon.

Shows: Eleven Arab leaders including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Algeria, the Emir of Qatar, and some other dudes. Eighteen leaders were present at last year’s summit in Riyadh.

Summit Time!

Algerian President Abdalaziz Boutflika and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. One is short; the other is tall!

Double-chin twins! Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and head of the Arab League Amr Moussa.

Double-chins for everyone! Qaddhafi looks fat!

Assad intimidates Palestinian President Abbas by grabbing his bicep. Hot!

I am calling men fat because this label is normally disproportionately saved for women.

Information and Photos from al-Jazeera and al-Thawra.

Syrian newspaper al-Thawra has unnecessarily published an epic-length article on the Damascus Summit which is scheduled to begin tomorrow. Several Arab governments have sent low-level ministers to the summit in order to express disapproval of Syria’s role in Lebanon’s presidential crisis. Lebanon has boycotted the summit entirely. The article from al-Thawra is just like twenty press releases jumbled together: Peace, blah blah, Israel, Golan, blah blah, Arab ministers, Occupation.

Here is Lebanon’s empty seat at the Summit. (al-Nahar)

Al-Jazeera has an article on Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat whose work is quite controversial. (Here is his homepage.) The cartoon below depicts his sentiments on Arab summits in general.

But, resistance is futile.

US Apache helicopters bombed houses in Hilla, Iraq, killing up to 60 civilians and wounding dozens more. The Pentagon said that US troops were providing air support to Iraqi security forces who have been fighting with Jaysh al-Mehdi for the past three days. The most intense fighting has been in Basra and Kut, where hundreds have been killed or injured.

(Democracy Now and al-Tariq ila Karbala)

This woman’s son was killed yesterday in Hilla during the fighting.

Al-Hayat reports that Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki refuses to negotiate with militants from Jaysh al-Mehdi. Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr are holding demonstrations calling for the resignation of Maliki and for him to have a trial like Saddam Hussein’s.

Al-Jazeera used this shot from al-Manar with their article.

Al-Nour, the Hezbullah radio station, used this screen shot with their article.

The Secretary General of Hezbullah Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech today in Beirut 40 days after the assassination of Hezbullah military commander Imad Mughniya. (The time period of 40 days is significant because it represents the 40 days of mourning in Shi’i Islam for Imam Husayn, who is seen as the most prominent martyr.)

You can listen to the full speech here with Real Player, but al-Jazeera also has a concise wrap-up. Nasrallah reiterated that he is determined to react to Israel’s assassination of Mughniya. He also said that the public has expressed their support for the Resistance (al-muqawama) through a series of several polls. Nasrallah said that 80% of Lebanese from different sects expressed support action that would lead to the downfall of the zionist regime (al-nidham al-sahyoniyya) and that 50% want to see Israel totally disappear (zawal).

There will be mixed translations of the word “zawal” which I have chosen to translate as “disappearance,” but it can also be translated as “extinction” or “cessation.”

(Photo of the suspension bridge over the Euphrates in Deir ez-Zour, a Syrian city which has a substantial Kurdish population.)

Syrian security forces shot three Kurds to death and wounded four others in the Northeastern Syrian city of Qamishle which is on the Turkish border and very close to Iraq. The Kurds were celebrating Noruz. (Reuters via RMC daily news report.)

One resident said the youths burned tires and threw stones at the riot police, who are permanently deployed in the city which is home to a large Kurdish population. Another resident said the police fired at the crowd unprovoked.

There is much prejudice towards Kurds in Syria. Many times, they are seen as unclean and uneducated. The Kurdish population in Syria is concentrated in the Northeast and there are some Kurdish pockets in Western Syria. Relations between the Syrian government and the Kurdish population have shifted over time. Former president Hafiz al-Assad cultivated ties for a time with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and provided a safe haven for the group, but there the relations between the government and the Kurds have since soured substantially.

Balloons? Doves? I’m not convinced.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) celebrates its 30th year of being a peacekeeping force in Lebanon. I don’t want to be an age-ist, but isn’t there an age limit for these soldiers? Is Lebanon where the UN sends all the elderly soldiers?

The above cartoon is from the Lebanese daily al-Nahar. The text in the top right corner reads: UNIFIL, 30 years in Lebanon. The patched sign in the back reads: The South, referring to southern Lebanon where UNIFIL troops have been stationed. The basic message of the cartoon is that while UNIFIL troops have been establishing their roots in southern Lebanon, it’s actually the citizens of southern Lebanon who have bore the brunt of Israeli aggression while UNIFIL troops have stood by idly.

30 years, guys! Great work!

(Image from the NY Times.)

More gems from the travel writing section of the NY Times. This time, we travel to the new Middle East hot-spot — Khasab, Oman! The landscape looks like Utah, the ladies are mysterious, and it’s in a country you’ve never heard of before! But before I go further: Orientalist Cliche Count — GO!

an Arabian land

oil-rich

Omani women in flowing black head scarves

Ok, not too many this time, but the article is only 500 words.

Not to repeat myself, but what separates orientalist descriptions of a place from legitimate descriptions of a place? I mean, if there are Omani women wearing flowing black head scarves, then what should prevent us from describing this? Context. Travel writing is all about the “exotic” and the “unique” or “edgy.” Women cease to be human in this type of writing; they are objects of the orientalist’s attention. We have to ask why the author chose to point out this observation out of all other possible observations.

Either way, I’ve got a bigger problem with this piece: luxury hotels.

Khasab’s center is free of souvenir shops, but that may change. In July, Oman Air doubled its weekly flights from Muscat, the capital, from two to four. Luxury hotels are under discussion for Khasab’s main port, near a restored 17th-century Portuguese fort that now houses a museum.

When a town like Khasab becomes a tourist stop, a sad fate awaits.

In other Oman news, Cheney met with Oman’s leader Qaboos.

(Image from AFP.)

Terry Atlas, the author of the article “6 Signs the U.S. May Be Headed to Headed to War with Iran,” says this about Cheney’s visit to Oman:

Cheney, who is seen as a leading hawk on Iran, is going on what is described as a Mideast trip to try to give a boost to stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. But he has also scheduled two other stops: One, Oman, is a key military ally and logistics hub for military operations in the Persian Gulf. It also faces Iran across the narrow, vital Strait of Hormuz, the vulnerable oil transit chokepoint into and out of the Persian Gulf that Iran has threatened to blockade in the event of war. Cheney is also going to Saudi Arabia, whose support would be sought before any military action given its ability to increase oil supplies if Iran’s oil is cut off. Back in March 2002, Cheney made a high-profile Mideast trip to Saudi Arabia and other nations that officials said at the time was about diplomacy toward Iraq and not war, which began a year later.

U.S. News and World Report via Informed Comment.

(Image of Israeli Foreign Minister and John McCain from al-Jazeera.)

• John McCain continues to say scary things on his trip to the Middle East. On his stop in Jerusalem, he said, “I support Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” In response to this, a member of the Palestinian delegation Yasar abd Rabeh said that John McCain is further legitimizing the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and is placing himself in direct opposition of international decisions that have been supported by the United States.  (Al-Hayat)

• The United States is continuing to fill the coffers of the corrupt Palestinian Authority. This time with $150 million as the first installment of a promised aid package of $500 million dollars. (Al-Hayat and AFP) Connect the dots.

Al-Hayat sums up their position on five years in Iraq with this lead:

Five years and the Occupation has turned Iraq into a federalist-sectarian-chaotic blend instead of a beacon of democracy as promised by the American administration before the war — a war that has taken a million Iraqi victims; roughly 4,000 American soldiers; a price of three billion dollars; complete destruction of infrastructure; and the fracturing of Iraqi society. But President Bush said yesterday that these were sacrifices and that the war was the right choice.

Vice President Dick Cheney visited Baghdad and al-Jazeera ran the creepy photo below with their story.

(Image from the NY Times.)

In order to portray a society as “foreign” or an individual as an “other,” you must cast their customs, rituals, or even daily activities as something exotic or peculiar. This entry in the “Riyadh Journal” from the NY Times typifies the practice of creating an other.

This time of year, when the weather here is still cool and comfortable and the flowering plants and shrubs are everywhere, how better to spend a day than to be out in the desert with beautiful camels?

To be sure, the untrained eye [read: Western, --ed] might find it hard to appreciate such beauty. But here, camel aesthetics can be evaluated according to a series of precise and exacting standards.

“It’s just like judging a beautiful girl,” said Fowzan al-Madr, a camel breeder from the Kharj region southeast of Riyadh. “You look for big eyes, long lashes and a long neck — maybe 39 or 40 inches.”

As he spoke, Mr. Madr was surveying the offerings at Saudi Arabia’s largest camel market, on the outskirts of Riyadh. The souq al-jamal, as the market is called in Arabic, sprawls over the open desert for so many acres that it is handy to have a car to drive from pen to pen.

The article labels camel contests as “camel beauty pageants” (a term which I am sure is not directly translated from Arabic). The author has chosen to portray a camel contest as something bizarre by elaborating on the comparisons between females and camels — perhaps the author is also trying to imply that Arabs treat their camels better than women.

Either way, if the author had visited the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo — which has several contests that judge steers, goats, and pigs based on their appearance — I doubt that the coverage would’ve been so suggestive.

“See this one?” he asked, pointing to a white female camel with long eyelashes and a calm gaze. “She isn’t married yet, this one. She’s still a virgin. Look at the black eyes, the soft fur. The fur is trimmed so it’s short and clean, just like a girl going to a party.”

Suddenly, Mr. Shammari grabbed the white camel’s chin and kissed it square on the mouth. “When you get to know the camels, you feel love for them. My camels are like my children, my family.”

Security has improved. Security has improved. Security has improved.

The surge was successful. The surge was successful. The surge was successful.

Five years in Iraq and the network triumvirate — ABC, NBC, CBS — has produced special segments to commemorate the day.

ABC News brings us “Iraq 5 Years Later: Where Things Stand” which presents a pretty optimistic portrait of the current security situation in Iraq. The anchor announces that “security is a bright spot” in Iraq and attributes this success to the troop surge.

Interestingly, they have an interview with a female from Fallujah who says that the security situation is a “million times” better than a year ago. Of course the security situation is better in FALLUJAH from a year ago since that city saw some of the worst fighting in Iraq and now that the violence has lessened — even a little bit — the security situation has improved. Ask someone in Baghdad about the security situation and I do not believe the answer would be as optimistic.

NBC Nightly News produced the segment “Iraq: 5 Years Later” which is more like an interview with their super good-looking bureau chief who says his five years reporting from Iraq has been “quite a ride.” Insightful. The whole segment essentially rotates around the question: “So, what’s it like being in Iraq, like, were you scared when the U.S. shocked and awed Baghdad?”

The report is equally optimistic by reporting the “dramatic reduction in violence” in Iraq and attributes this to the surge. Oh, and guess what? If you don’t support the war on Iraq, the troops hate you.

CBS News (sans Katie Couric) has reached many of the same conclusions as NBC and ABC with their segment “Iraq: 5 Years Later,” namely that there has been a reduction in violence and this reduction in violence is due to the troop surge. I do not believe these conclusions are accurate, but the CBS report is of a vastly higher quality and seems more realistic than the two other broadcasts since it acknowledges that Iraqis are suffering from unemployment, lack of water and electricity, and they do not want to live under a foreign military occupation. It is also noteworthy that both the anchor and correspondent are females — in contrast with the other male-dominated broadcasts.

Muslim leaders from 57 countries convened in Dakar for the 11th annual Organization of the Islamic Conference this weekend and the above cartoon from al-Hayat depicts a very common sentiment in the Muslim world regarding the various “summits” and “conferences” that their leaders hold.

The writing on the copy machine reads: Summit of Islamic Countries in Dakar. The word for “summit” in Arabic, al-qima, has dual meanings like in English — it can either mean a conference or the apex of a mountain. In this sense, the “summit” is producing the same decisions year after year, and it just so happens that these decisions are really just Islamic states masturbating to images of themselves, hence the photo-copy of the actual “summit.” That’s just my interpretation.

Shi’i marja Mohammad Husayn Fadlallah shares similar sentiments, though he didn’t quite say it was political masturbation. He said that he regrets that the summit was merely an attempt to fill a political vacuum, but on an Islamic level. He said that the conference, which was launched from the “womb” of the threat of the Palestinian issue has come to accept the Israeli occupation as a settled issue.